Darn Termites!

Chris' progress on replacing the windows in the garage area was slowed down today by damage the termites have done over the years. Both the bathroom window & the porch window at the top of the stairs had extensive termite damage. He stopped work about 2 this afternoon to get materials to replace the damaged sills around those windows. By the time he gets back from Waimea, it will be time for him to leave; he will return on Monday. 

Besides the shower window, Chris has been able to complete the replacement for the window over the sink & the window in the lanai area. The area for the window over the sink was enlarged so there is more light & not as much area was lost for airflow.

Chris begins enlarging the window opening.

The outside shows the difference between the old & new window length.

The window for the lānai area was much easier to replace. The size remained the same & it is a fixed window.

I took Chris out for lunch today. We were going to go to Aloha Burger, but they were closed. We ended up at K. O. Pizza & had the special which was a pepperoni pizza with mushrooms, olives, & ranch dressing drizzle. 

Kanani sent drawings of what the Front Porch for the Kohala Reunion will look like. It is a pretty fancy drawing! He and Boyd will work on disassembling the window crates in order to build the Front Porch.

Kīlauea was actively erupting this morning, but began to pause in the evening. 

After pause.

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After pause.

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Larry, Marilyn, Umi, & Cristien!

IASA #2-48

Construction has started! Chris is doing window replacement while waiting for other materials to arrive.

 

Let the Construction Begin!

This is what it looks like on many mornings. The calm before the construction storm!

After several false starts, construction began today! Hulō! Because the materials for the sewing room won't be here until next week, Chris started with the windows. He uncrated all the windows & sorted them by where they would be installed. 

Starting to unbox the windows.

Contents of the 1st crate.

All windows now unboxed.

Then he began working on the windows in the garage area. The 1st window to be changed out was the shower. 

Old window removed.

New window installed.

It is now openable!

After that Chris worked on the window over the laundry sink & washer. Because the window area was enlarged, it will take a little longer since old wood has to be removed & new framing pieces have to be installed.

The old window.

The old window removed, prepping to enlarge the opening.

The old windows from the outside; shower to left, sink to right.

The new shower window (L) & old opening for laundry sink window.

Other windows in this area to be changed are the outdoor bathroom, clerestory, lānai, & back porch. The kitchen window over the sink also opens in to the garage area.

Outdoor bathroom.

Clerestory windows over back porch.

Lānai.

The back porch window will be made taller.

The window over kitchen sink will remain the same size.

Quite early in the window process this morning, I took the screens for the cat room windows to Jim from Kapaʻau Screens to change the regular screen material for pet screen; we met at the post office. Originally he said I would be able to pick them up tomorrow afternoon, I was surprised at how quick the turn around time was. But then he called a couple hours later & said I could come pick them up at 2 pm! Five hours! I later found out it was so fast because Jim's son was also there helping put in the pet screen.

I also called Boyd this morning; he is in charge of the Kohala Reunion indoor activities. As part of the activities the Culture & History group will be doing a series of Talk Story sessions with old timers talking about life in Kohala. Apparently they had this before on a prop built to look like a front porch; however, it is no longer around. So I donated the wood from the crates the windows came in to be turned in to the front porch. Only problem is, with the crates in the garage on one side & the windows on the other side, I can't get the car in to charge it. So Boyd came & started deconstructing the crates, he didn't get too far today so Chris & I pushed the crates enough to the side so I could just squeeze the car in.

I cleared out as much of the sewing room as I could; there are still several boxes on the top shelves that I can't reach. I will have to ask Chris for help in getting those down. I will also need help getting the rocking chair, easy chair, footlocker, & sewing machine out of the sewing room. The chairs can't fit through the aisle way because of boxes so they will have to be taken out when the old termite-eaten single walls are removed to be replaced by solid double walls. I just need someone else on the other end of the footlocker & the sewing machine to help get them out of the room.

I think this is a photo enlarger.

It needs a little TLC.

I got a package from Jody today. It is smoked salmon!

The penguin logo for one of the walking apps I have started showing up in a Santa suit a couple days ago. Not sure why it did not appear before Christmas; may be the penguin is a renegade who does not like to conform!

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Ummihan & Brad!

More Sewing Room Clean-out

I was planning on today being the final day to clean out the sewing room, but that was not to be. I had to 1st clear out the clothes in the doorway of the closet. And there is stuff on the outside of the door that still needs to be handled.

Found the artwork that was in this frame earlier in the cleanout.

Inside the closet there were more boxes & bags & old suitcases. I found a large old Celsius thermometer in a wooden case. The old yellow clothes hamper was in there, too. I am going to repurpose it as a cat food container; I have been looking but have not found anything satisfactory. And there was a gallon can full of home-poured lead weights for fishing. And an old-fashioned coconut grater & a knife with a home-made sheath made from a short piece of pvc pipe that was heated & flattened.

A Celsius thermometer in a wooden case.

I think it will work well for catfood storage.

Home-made lead fishing weights.

Coconut grater; you sit on the left end.

I took a closer look at the fishing rods & how they were fastened against the wall. Looks like there are 6 rods there with 3 reels. I recognize one of the rods as the one Grandma used; its a telescoping pole that can also be used as a walking cane to steady yourself when climbing from rock to rock on your way down to the shoreline.

And I found a box labelled, "papers". Which it did have. They included report cards from elementary & middle school for my uncles. And also a very old bank savings book from the Bank of Hawaiʻi which lists the 1st deposit in 1932. It was also stamped, "American citizen"; I wonder if they did that for all American citizens? Plus some interesting money. Two were Military Payment Certificates.

Was that "American citizen" stamp only for people who looked like Grandma & Grandpa?

I also spent a little time laying out a row of weed cloth along the outside edge of the cat fence. Since there will be several shrubs for lei making planted here & it is on the other side of the kalo trench, I will be planting mondo grass as a groundcover so that Emily doesn't have to mow it. 

Mondo grass in foreground by hose.